The Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice: Towards a Digital Fruition

The Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore is a complex system of environments that over the centuries—starting from an earlier pre-existence that arose between the eighth and ninth centuries—has undergone many variations and structural additions, from the Middle Ages to the present day. Despite the high tourist attendance and the vast decorative apparatus that the church houses, its fruition lacks support materials capable of guiding the ideal visitor in discovering the church, its history, and its features, as well as obtaining information regarding the sculptural and pictorial works. The essay is focused on the creation of a digital platform capable of guiding the ideal visitor through useful information for the museum visit: an online system that allows free access, both on-site and remotely, capable of providing an interactive guided tour. The platform takes advantage of appropriate hotspots positioned along an ideal visiting path; each hotspot allows access to descriptive panels through which the works of art are classified. The guided tour is implemented through texts, images, videos, and digital models, according to the most relevant environments: information is organized in thematic graphic layouts, accessible through intuitive and immediate readability. The work carried out is aimed at the touristic promotion of cultural heritage through the creation of a virtual environment and allows the sharing of content with a wider audience, ensuring the museum enjoyment of the environments involved and supporting the visit of the place.